alt="float image1"/> At Mexican restaurants, bypass the tortilla chips and cheese and stick to the salsa, fresh and steamed vegetables and grilled meats.
‘AT A GLANCE’ TABLE OF FOODS RICH IN NUTRIENTS
MAKING YOUR EATING PLAN A SUCCESS
The healthy diet guidelines recommended in this chapter centre around carbohydrates with low GIs, phytochemical-rich fruits and vegetables, protective fats and quality protein to help balance blood-sugar levels, ease carbohydrate cravings and improve digestion, absorption and elimination – all of which are crucial for proper hormonal balance.
Stable blood-sugar levels can prevent many PCOS symptoms and encourage weight loss. What’s more, a balanced blood chemistry enables you to control cravings for unhealthy food. As time goes on and you make gradual improvements, you will begin to see that you don’t have to rely on will-power alone to eat right. Once you start eating more healthily, your appetite adjusts and certain foods, which you know can trigger symptoms, just don’t seem so tempting any more.
With all the benefits that a healthy diet can offer for PCOS, it can be tempting to rush straight in and make dramatic changes. But as you try to incorporate these 10 steps into your life, remember that changing the way you eat takes time. Start by making changes little by little to what and when you eat, and as each week passes you will start to notice gradual improvements in your symptoms and the way you look and feel. In time you won’t just be surviving anymore – you’ll be flourishing!
Try not to set yourself up for failure, and remember the 80/20 rule. You can’t eat healthily 100 per cent of the time. The occasional treat – a bar of chocolate, a sweet pastry or a bag of chips – doesn’t mean that you have failed. It is the excesses that are potentially dangerous. It’s important that you enjoy your food and allow yourself the occasional indulgence. So no food is off-limits.
There are lots of diets out there. If you have PCOS and want to lose weight or boost your energy levels, it’s best to avoid fad diets and take the smart route by following the healthy diet guidelines outlined in this chapter, together with (if necessary) the weight-loss guidelines in Chapter 7.
I’ve heard all about the low-carb diet, and how it is supposed to help women with PCOS, but weren’t we told for years to cut down on protein and fat? I know lots of women who lost lots of weight that way. It’s really confusing.
Rachael, 34
I want to go on a diet, and my doctor has told me it will ease my symptoms, but there are so many out there and they all sound so convincing. I wish someone would just tell me which diet is right for me.
Marion, 30
It’s uncertain whether there is one definitive PCOS diet. One woman with PCOS may find that a low carbohydrate diet helps her, but another may not. We are all individuals and the important thing is to find a diet that is acceptable and sustainable for you.
PCOS expert Dr Adam Balen, consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Specialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Leeds General Infirmary, UK
The Diet Plan Guide
Following a diet plan can seem like a good idea when you’re leading a busy life and want to change your eating habits – but which popular diet plans are actually PCOS-fighting, and which are fad crash diets that won’t help your PCOS in the long term? For a discussion of low-carb and high protein diets, turn to page 190; the table below is a basic guide to other diets which could be useful for women with PCOS.
A word of warning: don’t ever be taken in by diets that claim to help you lose huge amounts of weight in short amounts of time, or diets based on one ingredient (‘monodiets’) such as cabbage soup or grapefruit – these are not offering a nutritionally-balanced option for long-term health for women with PCOS.
| What’s the Diet? | Meal replacements | |
| What’s the Idea? | Replacing meals with nutritionally-balanced drinks or shakes | |
| Will It Help My PCOS? | May be a healthy short-term solution under the supervision of a nutritionist or doctor. If you choose to try this, be sure to snack on fruits and vegetables to increase your phytochemical intake. Once you’ve lost the weight, try to go back to eating, not drinking, your food. | |
| What’s the Diet? | The Chocolate Diet | |
| What’s the Idea? | Created by Sally Ann Voak, chocoholics are divided into six types and each is allocated a diet to cope with their particular issues. The aim is to improve your relationship with chocolate so that you feel more in control. | |
| Will It Help My PCOS? | Certainly could do – if you are addicted to chocolate or other sweet foods, this healthy diet plan can encourage you to deal with your emotional relationship to food. | |
| What’s the Diet? | The Omega Diet | |
| What’s the Idea? | An eating system based on 12 food units (protein, seeds, nuts, etc.) a day to provide all the nutrients and calories needed, without having to count calories, read labels or weigh and measure amounts. Creator Judith Wells says, ‘up to 75 per cent of us are eating too few essential fatty acids, or the wrong balance of them.’ | |
| Will It Help My PCOS? | Could be really useful. Women with PCOS do need to ensure that they get enough EFAs; following this eating plan is a good, healthy way of doing this. | |
| What’s the Diet? | The Schwarbein principle | |
| What’s the Idea? | That food should be thought of in terms of the effect it can have on your hormones, including insulin. | |
| Will It Help My PCOS? |
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